Acceptance
by Aleauxvander
Summary: Fate tore their family apart and on its whim and stapled them together with weak hinges. And while they both suffered in silent acceptance, a child should never have to. But then again, she is her father's child. Artemis/Holly and Ariciah for luck.


**I disclaim the ownership of Artemis Fowl and whatever else created by Colfer. I do however own this semi-plot bunny and a cute kid named Ariciah and I will have her dance to my whim like the puppet she is.**

**Song: Surprisingly I wrote this in utter silence. Maybe that's why it feels weird to me. Oh, and Holly. She seems off to me in this.**

**Read the author's note at the ending for any further clarification. Any questions: message me or find some way to contact me.**

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Summary: Fate tore their family apart and on its whim and stapled them together with weak hinges. And while they both suffered in silent acceptance, a child should never have to. But then again, she is her father's child. Artemis/Holly and Ariciah for luck.

**Title: Acceptance**

_By Aleauxvander B.D_

A few hours at a time was all they could manage. He had four lives to live; one for his wife and child, one for the People, another for his family and another for the world. And while the strain of all four was manageable at best, Holly believed without bias that she had the least to offer and yet the most to sacrifice.

Out of duty and love to her people, she was obligated under the law to spend three-quarters of her time in the Lower Elements. If not she would be considered rogue. The council could care less if she had married the mud man and that they had a child who depended on her as much as her father. Out of spite and malice, they would restrict her surface privileges, force-promote her to Major; they would and they did limit her time with them.

In a good year, Holly saw her daughter in person, 80 or so times. And the writhing pain of separation, of hearing her voice over the phone, chattering away about what her daddy did and what her daddy said was an incurable disease.

Then those days, most every day in one week, when Artemis put the Laptop in his daughter's room and she, at 4 years, expertly set it up and video-called her mother, those days were worst. Holly smiled, loving the dark haired girl so much it was physically painful, missing her scent and wishing she was there, she smiled.

And Ariciah, her father's child, so brilliant at such a young age, showed her mother the necklace her uncle had given her for her 4th birthday.

It was a small gathering of family through which Holly sat in her apartment miles away and watched through the screen of her computer. Every few seconds, her daughter would dance away from the laptop, around the room of family members and decorations bring back something for her mother to see. Ariciah sat for the duration of that party before the webcam, smiled lovingly at her absent mother, and told her everything on her mind.

That morning, or night for Artemis and her daughter, when she kissed her mother noisily through the camera and Holly turned her computer off, she sat alone in her cold bed and she cried silently.

He knew her so well that he called her as soon as her tears began, as if knowing through his love for her she was distressed so far away.

"I hate when you cry." He admitted uncomfortably.

She hated doing it more, she thought. "I can't help it." She said honestly. The tears rose up in her throat, paining her, halting her breath and her words "my daughter, Artemis…"

"Our daughter," He said "she understands."

She made a sibilant noise, wiping her eyes with the heel of her wrist and pushed her wet hair from her face, holding the phone securely to her ear.

"I miss you so much." She said shaking her head, tears muffling her voice "I miss my child."

He was quiet for a while, a sigh and then he spoke, his voice low and understanding.

"How many additional days of allowance have you left?"

She gave a tired, sad, watery laugh blinking away tears. He knew better than to think she had enough time to leave Haven or that the council was forgetful enough not to anchor her below.

"I have two days of allowance, for sick leave, which means I won't be granted a surface pass. I won't leave Haven for another 3 weeks, Artemis. They have ensured that."

He went silent while she spoke to him about the recent tension in the south district of Haven, trying to clear her mind and she heard him typing away on his laptop. Only when a soft, electronic sound rang out in her room did she realize her computer had been, internally, booted.

The screen lit up as the system booted itself and within seconds, algorithms streamed easily down the screen. She only then understood what was happening when a dialogue box popped up and Artemis' face took up her screen.

The phone slipped easily from her grasp, now dead, and she climbed out of bed and sat in the chair.

He looked tired, as he usually did when Ariciah was at her most energetic, and she watched him lean back in his chair, the only light shone next to him from the desktop lamp.

"I miss you." She said.

He smiled sadly at her and gave a small nod.

"I know." He said quietly, "you will never understand just how much I need you now. We both do."

The ache began again in her stomach and she fought tears. She was so frustrated, so unfairly treated and they were being punished for nothing by the council. When he had proposed they marry when he was just 23 she had warned him that it would be hell. The People would detest him, would detest her, would detest anything they stood for and worst now, their daughter. Their magical, beautiful child who had done nothing to harm them. All she wanted to do was to take apart her father's gadgets and find out how they worked. All Ariciah wanted, daily, was to see her mother in person and yet she would wake up, turn on her computer and see her mother's face. And each time the child put her hand to the screen as though to touch her mother, Holly felt her world fall apart.

She covered her face with her hands and sighed heavily.

"Artemis, I am suffering here…" she managed to get out. Tears slipped easily down her face and she let them, feeling so emotionally pitiful she could hardly speak "what is worse is that when anyone speaks to me about anything, I consciously see them _pretend_ I am fine. They _pretend_ I am content here."

"They know what they are doing to me and they don't care." She said angrily "I don't expect them to care but don't _pretend_ you do. Damn hypocrites, the lot of them."

She watched him close tired eyes and lay his hand on his forehead.

"She'll wake up in the morning, Artemis, when I am just heading to bed and she'll want to see me. I…" she paused, unsure of what to say "I can't let my daughter see me like this. I am an emotional _wreck_. I can't apply for sabbatical as yet, '_too early in my promotion_' they say. And as soon as Foaly finds a way around all this bureaucratic red tape they give me the run around."

"Holly…"

She shook her head and held her hands up to him to silence him and she missed the brief flash of emotion across his face, a hurt look, before it was enveloped by his cool mask.

"No, Artemis. Don't. Don't tell me you understand." She told him "I know you feel the pain of separation but you have Ariciah! I don't even have you!"

When she said it and thought back, she felt she may have hurt him, may have caused him to believe that he wasn't enough or he was second place in her love for her daughter. She sighed, energy draining from her body as her emotions ran unbound and apologized.

"I'm sorry." She said. He shook his head as though it was nothing which, she believed, it wasn't. Artemis was brilliant enough to know what she meant and what she didn't.

"I know what you are trying to say." He said "and I understand that much, Holly. But you need to stay above the water. It is imperative that you do." Age and time, and perhaps Ariciah, gave him wisdom and a startling amount of patience, she realized. Her mud man just watched her with attentive, observant eyes, his mind racing and moving, never ceasing.

Her body was so tired and the depressing part was that she would have to be up and dressed within the hour and head to work. Artemis understood her. He was suffering silently, the strain obvious in his mannerisms but he wouldn't complain; he couldn't. Not with Ariciah watching his every move most days while he was in his lab or while they went out on the town. But that was Artemis. He was skilled at coping.

"Sometimes I don't think I can stay afloat, Artemis. Not without you two."

"You have to. Think about us, yes, but what of Foaly? As your friend you have obligations to him as well"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I didn't marry Foaly, Artemis." She said sternly "neither did I have a child with him."

"That's beside the point, Holly. What do I have to live for if you fall apart on me?" he asked.

She met his eyes through the camera and he frowned at her silence. She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could.

"You have our daughter to live for." She reminded him " Ariciah. Remember? That beautiful little girl with her father's eyes."

He smiled at her and for a moment she felt better just seeing him alone.

"And you have our daughter to live for. Ariciah. Remember? That beautiful little girl with her father's eyes." He parroted

She just looked at him, appreciating him, because he always woke her from her nightmares. He wasn't perfect, she knew. Nine out of ten times he annoyed her, angered her, hurt her but he was a good person and an even greater father and husband and at this point, that was all she needed; the reassurance that she had something to live for.

"Three more weeks," he said "never have I doubted your tenacity, so why prove me wrong now? You can and you will survive until then." He ordered.

"You know most husbands buy their wives roses and chocolates when they aren't feeling well." She complained "they don't demand they feel better."

He shrugged carelessly, "You are allergic to cocoa." He said factually.

With her grief subsiding to a dull, hollow ache, she threw him a look.

"It's the thought that counts." She said dryly "but yes, I'll survive until then. I love you."

"And I you." He said simply, which in her world, was equivalent to him screaming it to the high heavens.

"Kiss her for me." She asked of him.

"I always do."

She gave him a sad look and a last farewell, "Good night, Artemis."

A smile that reflected to her how much he missed her and he bit his fisted hand in a sign she recognized of restraint.

"Good morning, Holly."

* * *

"_Foaly."_

"_It's a bit late in hearing from you, Fowl."_

"_Late for me, early for you,"_

"_Be that as it may, what can I do for you?"_

"_I need a favour."_

_A grin._

"_My my, Artemis Fowl indebted to me! I should brag to your wife."_

"_You will do no such thing. You will foil my plans if you do."_

"_Is something the matter? Anything serious?"_

"_If you consider a child missing her mother a life or death scenario, then yes."_

"_How is my god-daughter?"_

"_You will see if you help me."_

_A pause._

"_What do you need?"_

* * *

She was sitting by the waterfront after work, a view that looked over into a seemingly endless underground lake, in her after-hours time frowning at her phone. Her husband wasn't answering his cell phone nor was anyone answering the house phone. Butler usually stopped by during the days to see Ariciah and depending on how late it was he would stay. But no one, not even a maid, picked up the phone.

And each time she had Foaly try to find her husband he said Fowl was at his parent's home or somewhere else. A suspiciously oblique answer but she allowed him that. Artemis hadn't told her he was visiting them but he didn't normally tell her these mundane things. And even when she called the Manor's phone, no one picked up.

She knew it was silly to fret but she worried endlessly when it came to the two of them. Artemis was as defensive as a dandelion in a hurricane and Ariciah was just a child. Most times a Butler trailed them from behind but Artemis was known to dismiss them quickly; he had no patience for people trailing him and with Ariciah's body deciding that magic should be displayed in everything she did, it wasn't ideal to have persons around her until she could control it.

Holly leaned back, watching the afternoon lights reflected from the high ceilings of lower elements shine unto the water surface. It was beautiful, even if it was a simulated view, and she wished she could sit here with Artemis in silence and just watch.

She closed her eyes to the view, sighed heavily and swallowed. Nothing she did helped her any better. She thought less of them, went to work, jogged in the mornings, worked out at night, did paperwork at home and she still thought endlessly of what she was missing. Right in the living room of her small flat was a 15x10 Artemis had printed and framed for her. A photo taken in the backyard of their Limerick property where he dared not venture to but Ariciah loved. It was covered from the back terrace up to the walls of the compound with large wild flowers and high grasses, coloured in purples, oranges and greens.

She wasn't in the photo, she remembered sitting and watching from the patio table on the terrace as Butler played with Ariciah in the field. And Artemis who refused to venture near the high grass sat next to her drinking tea in the waning light.

But their daughter had wanted her father and ran from Butler to Artemis' side and like any normal child wrapped her arms around her father's neck and kissed his cheek.

The picture was lovely, the sky behind the two painted orange and pink and the sun making a halo around Ariciah's head. Artemis was smiling at her, trying to be annoyed.

Every evening when she came home from work, the photo greeted her and she wished more and more that missing them wasn't so easy and painful.

She looked down at the phone in her hands, as if by her sheer will, it would ring and Artemis would be there. She needed to talk to him, even if it was just to hear his voice.

Along the walk to the water front, she heard the sound of hooves, distinct tapping on the tarmac and Foaly trotted up to her, planting, with much trouble and little grace, his behind on the bench.

"You'd think for all that we are capable of, we'd invent better seating for centaurs." He griped.

Holly laughed quietly, sending him a sidelong glance, "What are you doing out of your office?" she asked curiously.

Her best friend scoffed as if insulted and drew another glance from her.

"I have a home, you know. And a wife and children. I, too, venture from my office." He neighed indignantly "you're not the only one with home life."

She put a hand around his shoulder and leaned back, patting his other shoulder absentmindedly. Foaly was like Artemis in the sense that he did nothing without reason and a large amount of deduction.

"Touché." She answered "still what are you doing down here. It's your least favourite place."

"Your husband thought I'd be able to help cheer you up." He said in answering "my charismatic ways and charming demeanour can brighten anyone's day!" he smiled almost soberly over at her "you know he hates to see you cry. He hates tears overall, I believe."

"You spoke to Artemis? When?"

He waved his hand vaguely at her, "Some time ago." He said "so I am here to make you feel better."

"Or lead me to insanity." She teased then gave a small smile "I'm fine, actually. Better than the day before. Did you tell him I was trying to get to him?"

She noticed how he dodged the question completely. He patted her knee, "Seeing as you say you're fine, he sent a gift for you and its quiet expensive to carry about. Should I send it back?"

She almost groaned. What did Fowl have planned now? He had a penchant for spending obscene amounts of money on Ariciah's every whim and occasionally when she decided she wanted simple things, he complicated them. He didn't seem to understand that she could care less that her bottled water came from a spring in the Alps. Regardless, it made little sense, even if she knew what it was, to return it. She shook her head, "No, no. It's fine. Where is it?"

He grinned at her and nodded in a direction over her shoulder. She frowned, wrinkles creasing her brow and looked to her left down the water front and froze in shock. A sagging flood of relief and joy swept over her so quickly she was left drained and a stuttered gasp left her breathless.

Sitting on the bench next to hers, less than 10 feet away, was Artemis, looking calm and composed as though he wasn't the oddest thing in the setting at the moment. He didn't look up in her direction as she stared disbelieving at the sight. Holly closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, in pleasant shock. Curled up in her father's arms, her face buried in the crook of his shoulder and small arms draped limp around his neck, Ariciah slept.

She lifted her head and stared again, this time when Artemis lifted his head from Ariciah's hair and looked over at her.

"Am I imagining this?" she asked tremulously.

She felt Foaly's hand, comforting on her shoulder but her eyes didn't move. Ariciah in her slumber shifted and Artemis jogged her to keep her settled in his embrace.

"You tell me." He said to her.

Holly stood and approached the bench, hope tearing through her and the thought of this being a dream already devastating her. Artemis picked up the tiny shoes with his right hand and put them on the other side of him, scooting further down the bench for her to sit next to him.

He was in a dress shirt and dark trousers, looking tousled, unshaven, tired and lovely, far from her composed, well dressed, charming mud man.

He smiled at her, opening out his free right hand for her to tumbled into his arms and she went limp against him, allowing him to ease his arm around her to pull her closer and kiss her forehead

"It's nice to see you too." He told her against the skin of her temple.

She shook her head, pushing Ariciah's sweeping bangs from her eyes. The edge of one lock swept over her nose and she wrinkled it in distaste. While dark circles pinched Artemis' face, bruising the skin bellow his eyes in dark sagging waves, the 4 year old's face was serene in sleep, unblemished in youth and pale, as her father's complexion.

"This is—this is more than just nice, Artemis," she said breathlessly. He leaned forward to extract her gently form his neck and lifted her into her mother's arms.

Holly took her from him, feeling with a sort of maternal interest that in the time she hadn't seen her, Ares had, undoubtedly, lost some baby fat, and settled her out on her lap. Her legs fell over unto her father's thigh while Holly cradled her head against her stomach.

For moments on end, she only stared down on the vision she had dreamt of for nights. She had longed with such ferocity just to see her and here she was, fast asleep, just as the gods had delivered her to them.

She kept sweeping the errant lock of hair behind her small ear but it wouldn't stay and Artemis, she figured, noticed her nervous, repetitive movement.

Foaly came over, touched his God daughter's hair softly and pronounced his departure.

"I do bid thee fare well." He said "I'll see you both later on. I have my own to wrestle into bed."

While they watched Foaly depart down the walk and the lighting above changed drastically, suddenly to a darker, more fitting colour for late evening, her mind raced. Just what did Artemis have to sacrifice to get them both bellow ground on such short notice? There was no end to his intellectual prowess and he could, with and without Foaly's help, manipulate anything to his will.

Even if he had somehow smuggled himself and Ariciah onboard a shuttle, which would have been uncharacteristic of him after all these years if not immature, some uproar would have been raised when he was, invariable caught. She would have been called in instantly and in typical, panicked fashion of the people, a curfew would have been put in place and all streets and districts shut down.

In her logic, the side of her that knew him better than she knew what others were capable of, something must have occurred. If Foaly had facilitated this, he would have done it the proper way which seemed impossible. Artemis openly detested the Council, though he claimed loathe was too passionate an emotion to be wasted on the likes of those bigoted bureaucrats. In order for him to have gained permission so quickly to enter the Lower Elements while dodging the annoying red tape and run around she dealt with daily, he would have had to be granted a direct meeting with the council.

And even if he did get the meeting with them, the majority of them were corrupt mercenaries. Just under what conditions did they allow him here? What indispensable thing did they take from him?

With both hands free, one was splayed on Ariciah's back and the other curled around her, he sighed, clearly exhausted but never thought to complain.

"You are thinking so loud I can hear you." he muttered "I know you well enough to deduce your mind's general wavelength."

She looked over at him, with the dim light hiding more of his features but his perfect art of facades and mask hiding his emotions. Once again, her husband held himself back in hopes of sparing her the severity of something he had done. In retrospect, it seemed to work. She had appreciated it originally, his love for her startlingly enough for him to want to shield her but this was a marriage; a partnership. She refused to let him bare the burden of anything alone.

She swallowed, her throat dry, hoping that whatever it was wouldn't hurt her as much as it usually did. She had to keep reminding herself that whatever he had selflessly sacrificed was for her fleeting happiness. She had Ariciah with her now, for whoever knew how long, but that was enough.

"What happened?" she asked. He knew her, and one question alone was more dangerous than 20 so he nodded, looked over at her briefly and touched her cheek.

"I find myself wondering, most days, just what observant, innocent eyes see when they examine things in her surroundings." He said "she is an open child, as most children are. The twins were that way…" he said in reminiscence but then shook his head "She tells us just what she wants to tell us, nothing more. Not what she thinks she should divulge."

"She takes after you." she said

"Sadly, yes." He replied "what she feels is guarded well by her face and smiles. But it was only after I spoke to you two nights ago, when you cried, did I realize just how much Ariciah saw daily and understood."

She didn't understand just what this had to do with their arrival and the repercussions it would have later on

"I don't—"

"She understands that her mother works far away. She is smart and capable of understanding the complexities that are Haven. She knows that she ought not complain when she spends days on end with her Grandparents; she doesn't know that she _shouldn't _understand, that she _should_ complain, but she does. This shouldn't be, Holly." He said shaking his head "she is intellectually mature, far beyond those thrice her age but not emotionally. Her mind tells her to understand and to cope but her emotions do not comprehend."

He was silent for a while and because she continued to stare at him he looked down at Ariciah while she slept.

"I hate when she cries." He admitted "Frankly, it is quiet uncomfortable. I can never seem to say the things to abate tears. And she prattled on about knowing what she _should_ do but she couldn't control missing her mother."

He had left his obligations, packed up his daughter, apparently sedated her and risked something, anything because she cried herself to sleep for her mother? Holly dipped her head as maternal pain fell over her.

"This isn't good for her." she said "not for her, not for any of us."

"Foaly set up a video conference with the Council as a favour from Commander Vinyaya." He said suddenly as though expelling his thoughts "they weren't pleased to see me, nor were they willing to listen to Foaly's plea. I gave them my word that if I harboured any ill intent towards anything of the Lower Elements- people and property alike- I would allow them to, without any action to contend their verdict, have my mind wiped."

Her emotions were so raw, in so much turmoil that the shock to her was like another blow to a numb body. Her hollow shell only felt the slight impact but not the pain, not the thrashing hurt and desperation.

Against her bidding, tears slipped down her face and she knew already that he had pursed his lips, uncomfortable, and a silent martyr.

"At Tara, she was given a small dosage of sedatives of Foaly's design, they claimed. It was best she was unaware of her journey here. These, along with others, were a part of the agreement in my venturing down here." He explained "Ariciah is allowed a week here in your custody of course."

She noticed he hadn't included himself and she shook her head. Once more, the Council had designed their way through her life, had ruined a small window of happiness for her. It was obvious. Ariciah, a half magical child of Major Holly Short turned Fowl was welcomed, grudgingly into the Lower Elements. Artemis Fowl, was not.

"But not you." she concluded

"Ah."

She nodded, accepting things as she went along. There was nothing left to do but to accept. Their lives were balanced on the whim of a greedy, disgusting set of old biddies who hated her and her family, what had she left to do but to accept? To roll over like the good dog, the obedient toy soldier?

"What else?" she asked, tears gritting her voice as she threw up her hands in obvious frustration "what else can they possibly do?"

"Without a signed, sealed and stamped letter of approval from a LEP commander, I am not allowed within the Lower Elements for another year, unless under direct request of said Commanding officer." He told her "In short, I am bared entrance unless the Lower Elements Police deem my interference worthy and beneficial to their cause."

Along the walk, persons ambled here and there, out of work and on the town, sitting on benches, talking. No one looked in their direction though she knew they would recognize him even in horrible light. Interestingly enough, they stayed away, as though knowing by context they would receive the wrath of the council.

She didn't know when it would be, that her life took precedence over her People and their way of life and dislike towards mud men. Holly couldn't lie. She knew only a handful of mud men she liked and loved and some she tolerated. They were greedy, manipulative, destructive race and cared mostly for themselves and nothing else, Artemis being prime example.

She wasn't sure when and how long it would take her to muster up the courage to sacrifice Lower Elements for her husband and child, but when she did, she would do it without regret. But for now, she would accept and he would accept, but Ariciah…

She just wanted her mother and father in one place at one time for more than a fleeting hour or day.

"I am expected to be on a shuttle to Tara by 6 am." He said "which gives us little time to do much."

She picked up Ariciah, holding her up to her face by her arms and nudged her gently. As if feeling her mother's warmth disappearing and her body noticing she was in a strange place, cobalt blue eyes opened slowly and blinked in the darkness. Overhead, the colours switched to the street lamp shades and colours of Haven at night and Holly's face was flooded with florescent light.

Easily, born to do so, their brilliant child smiled, dimples sinking her cheeks and small teeth flashed as she saw her mother. Immediately, the sedatives still trying to hold unto the last vestiges of her slumber, Ariciah dove at her mother, small hands around her neck and her face buried in her Holly's shirt.

"Mommy…"she breathed quietly, over and over again and Holly closed her eyes and held her.

For moments like these, those small moments when she could hold her, despite what they sacrificed, he would accept and she would accept. Besides, hadn't she and Artemis trudged through worst? Their child would be no different.

Seating her back in her lap as she looked around, bright eyes observing, seeing, compartmentalizing smells, sights and sounds while she told her mother and father what she felt about what she saw and her own theories on why these things were so.

Over their daughter's chattering, she looked over at him in answering, "By 6 am?" she said "that gives us a full 11 or so hours together. We've survived on less time before, haven't we?"

She saw the smile reach his eyes, saw him shake his head as he closed his eyes and chuckled quietly, without mirth, but honesty. He kissed her softly and nodded.

"Yes we have."

* * *

"_Mommy?" _

"_Shouldn't you be asleep, Ares?"_

"_I rather ask a question."_

_A sigh "Go ahead, honey."_

"_I understand that due to what little magical capabilities I posses, I cannot be paraded around in Dublin, but when is it that I will be able to attend a real school? Not daddy teaching me?"_

"_Sooner than you expect, I hope. As soon as you can control these little odd magical quirks."_

"_How far along from now do you think that is?"_

"_In all honesty, you are a brilliant child. If anyone is to find a way to control an innate ability, it is you."_

"_I understand."_

_A sad smile and hands smoothing back dark hair._

"_I was afraid you would."_

_**Owari**_

_**

* * *

**_

**5,186 words! I think this is the longest one-shot I have written and posted. I have a few more, not many, probably 2 other one-shots that take place in this sort of story line with Ariciah. I may or may not post them, but I do need to keep busy and post one-shots while I write a large, continuous story. Bear with me and these random plot bunnies that slink into my room and night and breed under my bed.**

**Next point. If Artemis seemed a bit, I don't know, **_**mellow**_**, many apologies. I tried and apparently failed to portray him in a more patient, quiet role, slightly subdued by Ariciah. **_**Subdued**_** is such as harsh word and sounds so demeaning and does not fit Artemis' character in any way. How about…..ah hell, he's mellow. I give up.**

**I thank those who reviewed and those who have favourited my stories. Person's opinions mean much to me and help me in the long run so take time to review and tell me what you think.**

**Finally, I have yet to read Atlantis Complex…. PLEASE, HAVE MERCY UPON ME! DON'T GIVE AWAY ANYTHING TO ME!**

**Reviews feed the hungry plot bunny. Tell me what you think of this. **


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